MOBILE, Ala. (AP) – Shelia Loftin knew that the vase was worth a lot more than the $1.99 she paid for it at a swap meet 15 years ago.

“I recognized it as a valuable piece,” she said Thursday.

Turns out, the vase was worth quite a bit more. It appraised for at least $6,500 at the WALA-TV10 “What’s It Worth?” event at Oakleigh, benefiting the Penelope House and Mobile Historic Preservation Society.

The former Mobile schoolteacher, who has a degree in art, said she bought the vase in Long Beach, California. It caught her eye, but it wasn’t until she looked at the bottom that she realized its possible value

Markings indicated it was Newcomb Pottery, which was made between 1901 and 1942 at Newcomb College in New Orleans.

According to a Newcomb Web site, the pottery “is considered one of the most significant American art potteries of the first half of the twentieth century” and was “influenced by the English Arts and Crafts movement.”

The Web site said the pottery operation meant jobs for 90 Newcomb graduates and was responsible for “some 70,000 distinct pieces of work.”

At auction, Loftin’s vase “could go from $6,500 to $8,500,” said Charles Parmenter of Olde Mobile Antiques Gallery. Parmenter said the vase, with its large blue diamonds and pink flowers, was a rare piece that he’d never seen before.

Loftin said she’s thinking about selling “at the right price,” adding that she would consult with the appraiser.

“I was told if I wanted to sell it in New Orleans, the sky’s the limit,” she said. “They think it is a rare one.”

One thing’s for sure. She won’t sell it for $1.99.

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Information from: Press-Register, http://www.al.com/mobileregister

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